US: June non-farm payrolls; China June services PMI; US June services PMI.

Stocks to watch

Stockland Property Group intends to shed more of its retirement assets in the latest shake-up of this division.

Morningstar has a “hold’ recommendation on Coca-Cola Amatil (CCL) and a $19.83 target price.

Wesfarmers slashed the value of Target by $680 million in an end-of-year balance sheet clean-up that has opened the door to a possible sale of the retailer, The Australian Financial Review reports.

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission has sensationally intervened in South African retailer Woolworths’ $2.2 billion takeover of David Jones and $213 million mop-up offer for Country Road.

Currencies

St George Bank said in a commentary the US dollar index was “largely unchanged, although the euro slipped against the USD and AUD on weak factory data and ahead of the ECB meeting this Thursday. Meanwhile, the Australian dollar peaked briefly above 95 US cents, after the RBA failed to provide a more dovish statement. Additionally, any RBA talk down of the Australian dollar was limited.”

The euro will hold its strength for at least a few more months, but a US dollar rally, which analysts and investors have been waiting on for many months, will begin later this year, a Reuters poll found.

The European Central Bank, which already took a variety of steps last month to counter a threat of deflation, is expected to only give more details on those policies at its meeting on Thursday.

The poll of over 60 strategists this week showed the euro at around the current level of $US1.36 in one month, $US1.34 in three months and weakening below $US1.30 only in a year

Commodities

Crude oil has fallen on encouraging signs for supply from Libya and Iraq, notching the lowest close in almost three weeks despite a big draw in US oil inventories.

Enterprise Product Partners has sold a cargo of US condensate to an Asian trader, in what appears to be the first export deal agreed to a week after the US Commerce Department cracked open the door for limited oil exports, two traders said.

Collusion among banks in setting the gold price benchmark was possible but there is no evidence of this, a senior British regulator said, when answering lawmakers’ questions on the trustworthiness of the gold market.

United States

The Dow and the S&P 500 have ended at new closing highs on Wednesday, but gains were limited as a positive read on private sector employment wasn’t enough to interest investors ahead of the highly anticipated June payrolls report.

European shares inched up on Wednesday, adding to the previous day’s sharp rally, though dashed hopes of merger moves among French telecoms companies kept a lid on gains. Auto makers were among the top gainers, with Daimler up 0.8 per cent and BMW up 0.6 per cent.

France’s biggest telecom operator Orange has ruled itself out of bidding for smaller rival Bouygues Telecom, causing share prices across the sector to drop on the prospect of the cut-throat competition continuing.

Shares in French telecom gear maker Alcatel-Lucent surged 3.7 per cent after JPMorgan analysts upgraded their rating on the stock to “overweight” from “neutral”.

What happened yesterday

Australian shares shot higher after equity markets in the United States pushed to fresh record highs. The market maintained momentum despite disappointing data that showed Australia posted a trade deficit when a small surplus had been expected.